Ben Williams

UWRT
Kashtan
10/18/17
Major Assignment #2

Dose Violence in the media cause youth to be violent? It has been debated for years
ever since the Mortal Kombat franchise, dose violence in video games, tv, movies, etc, cause
violent tendencies in children? There have been countless lawsuits and many controlled
research done on the physiological effects of violence in media. This controversy, if we ever
come to a conclusion, could shift how we view visual media as a whole. It could be a form of art
with no limitations or censoring, or a controlled or even outlawed form or media which will not
allow creators of video games, movies and tv to express themselves. I have some experience
on the topic, my mother was very against all forms of violence period and she would link me
articles about the physiological effects of violence in media and how it would affect kids my age.
I hope to learn a new site on the topic and i think i will find good statistical evidence on both
sides of the argument about the pros and cons of censorship of the media and the physiological
effects of violence on youth.

Book Citation
Trend, D. (2007). The myth of media violence: A critical introduction. Malden, : Blackwell
Publishing.\

The Myth of Violence is a book written by David Trend that addresses post 9/11 violence in the
media beyond just the simple arguments. It takes a look at political and socio-economic lines
made by violence in the media. The book has been cited by the American Psychological
Association as a primary document in some of these articles. These give it a very solid Ethos
argument. I think the book does a good job of evaluation the situation objectively and getting the
whole picture. The connection i draw to other articles i found was that it is very on the side of
statistics and logic.

Video Citation
Moore, Michael, director. Bowling for Columbine. Manga Films, 2003.

Bowling for Columbine was a documentary made in 2002 that addressed the aftermath and
effects of the Columbine massacre. The whole documentary has useful information but i am
focusing on the Marilyn Manson interview featured in the movie. Manson goes on to say a very
important statement. The interview does a good job at bringing to light a very important point of
view on the controversy. Who is more responsible for violence in youth, Death Metal or the
news media and the government killing people in wars. Personally i think that both sides have
some level of responsibility and that the fault is not exclusive. The Ethos appeal of the
documentary as a whole lies in the credibility of a primary source. There are not many experts
interviewed, but rather victims of shootings and 1st accounts. This source does fall on the Anti
violence spectrum but still wants to hold all parties accountable saying that the government and
big media is also to blame, not just subculture.

Peer Review Citation #1

The influence of violent media on children and adolescents: a public-health approach
Browne, K, and C Hamiltongiachritsis. The Influence of Violent Media on Children and Adolescents:
a Public-Health Approach. The Lancet, vol. 365, no. 9460, 2005, pp. 702710., doi:10.1016/s0140-
6736(05)70938-7.

This journal entry in The Lancet takes a look at violence in the media from a directly public
health point of view. Which is to say they are ignoring the politics of the matter and focusing
strictly on biological effects of violence in the media on youth. They came up with that violence
in the media definitely has a short term arousal for violence in youth. But, long term violence off
of media is different for all individuals and violence in the media affects individuals differently in
long term habits. The article Ethos appeal is that it has been peered reviewed and the article
cited over 400 times professionally. I think that taking a non-partisan view of a controversy is
very important for having a constructive conversation.

Peer Review Citation #2

Bushman, PhD Brad J. Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Violent Media on Aggression in
Children and Adults. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, American Medical Association,
1 Apr. 2006, jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/204790.

This article takes the same point of view as the previous but also looks at how it affects adults
and if adults are really mature enough to watch these violent movies or are unaffected by
violence and fear in the media. They actually came to the conclusion that it is the adults that will
be more prone to violence because they have prolonged exposure over time, therefore there
short term arousal is more violent because they know what they're doing. The Ethos appeal of
this article is that it has been peered reviewed and cited over 200 times in professional
documents. I think that observing the adults biological effect of violence is a good comparison
for how it affects youth.

News Article
Thompson, Zac. Do Violent Video Games Cause Violence? The Huffington Post,
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Apr. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/do-violent-video-games-
cause-violence_us_58f64c4ce4b0156697225316.

This article in the huffington post addresses the overall controversy that is dose violence in the
media cause violence. It calls out the masses of people that point their fingers at video games
and subculture, and claims that anyone who only blames these causes are turning a blind eye
to the other possible causes like mainstream news and that this is also a very influential
stimulus to cause violence. The Ethos appeal of this article is that it cites several peered
reviewed articles and books. I think this is important to be able to put all of these research
papers and put it into a plain english article for people to understand. In relation with the other
citations, it falls somewher in the middle of the spectrum of the argument, saying that yes,
violence is caused by media but it's not school shooter violence, those people had pre existing
mental delusions.

Additional Source #1: News Article

Scutti, Susan. Do Video Games Lead to Violence? CNN, Cable News Network, 26 July 2016,
www.cnn.com/2016/07/25/health/video-games-and-violence/index.html.

This CNN article opens with relaying a story of a shooter who played violent video games. The
article advocates that violent video games definitely cause violence in youth but the solution is
not a total ban but rather educating parents about these violent video games. I agree that we
should educate parents about the rating system and just how violent video games are.
Personally parents should go out and find this information on there own but if it saves lives then
we should find a way to educate. The ethos appeal of this article is the reliable citations.

Additional Source #2: Web Site

Violent Video Games - ProCon.org. Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?,
videogames.procon.org/.

ProCon.org is a non profit website that is dedicated to educating about violent video games and
their effects. The website's main article is a T chart of Pros and Cons of violent video games
and their effects on youth. The site claims to not have any argument, only to inform. I feel like a
website like this is needed in order to obtain truly unbiased information. The Ethos appeal of this
website is that it cites professional sources on both sides of the arguments and that it displays
all sides of all arguments in this overall controversy. This is the first truly unbiased source i have
found.

Additional Source #3: Court Case

Supreme Court . Brown vs Entertainment Merchants Association. Oct. 2010.

In the supreme court court case of 2010, the California government passed a law that banned
certain video games. The supreme court over ruled this and said that videogames are protected
by the 1st amendment. The Ethos appeal of this court case is that the decision was made by 9
people who dedicate their lives to law and are hand selected by the president of the united
states. I think that if the supreme court says that you can't ban something, then banning video
games to reduce violence in youth isn't an option. This is my only court case that i found, i was
really surprised that i found it.

Additional Source #4: Web Article

Adachi, Paul J.C. Playing Highly Competitive Video Games May Lead to Aggressive Behavior.
American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, 29 Aug. 2011,
www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2011/08/video-games.aspx.
This article by the APA suggest that it is the psychological competition in video games that is
causing the heightened amount of violence and aggression in youth and not the violence and
gore. A case study was done on college students and high schoolers. The ethos appeal of this
article is that the author is has a PhD and his article has been peered reviewed. I think that this
is a very important and less looked at side of the argument. That competitive nature can drive
some people to violence a lot quicker than just gore and death. Compared to the other sources,
this is the first to mention this view.

Additional Source #5
Scott Nicholas Romaniuk Ph.D. Candidate, University of Trento, and Tobias Burgers Doctoral
Candidate, Freie Universitt Berlin. How the US Military Is Using 'Violent, Chaotic, Beautiful' Video
Games to Train Soldiers. The Conversation, 16 Oct. 2017, theconversation.com/how-the-us-
military-is-using-violent-chaotic-beautiful-video-games-to-train-soldiers-73826.

This article explains that the military is using video games to train american soldiers for war.
Teaching tactics and how to kill ruthlessly. The article goes on to say that the simulations are
the exact same game that children are playing and that they should be banned. The article goes
on to explain that a game used to train someone to kill should not be for sale to the public. The
ethos appeal of this article is that people respects this person's point of view. I personally think it
is important to include the extreme view of the controversy to get a better understanding of their
train of thought, and i understand where this journalist is coming from.